Thursday, November 13, 2014

That tableau was photographed by me in the inspirational Nubia Museum
in Aswan, Upper Egypt. The museum was opened in 1997 in response to
UNESCO's appeal to preserve examples of the Nubian culture that was
facing obliteration from flooding by the nearby Aswan High Dam. In a
parallel mission Hamza El Din celebrated the Nubian culture in music. His iconic 1971 album Escalay (The Water Wheel) was released on the Nonesuch label and influenced American minimalist pioneers including Terry Riley. In 1992 Elektra released Pieces of Africa by the Kronos Quartet which featured a twelve minute version of Escalay commissioned from Hamza El Din by the Kronos. Pieces of Africa was described by Time
as a "potent new brew of folk influences, minimalism, and European
forms by eight black, brown, and white African composers" and went on to
become the first album to top both the classical and world music Billboard charts.

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Thursday, November 13, 2014Comment by email:Hi Bill, Pieces
of Africa is a good album. However, Hamza El Din 1971 album Escalay
(The Water Wheel) exquisitely played on an oud is really, really
special. Do you have that CD? Mike [Michael S. Wright]